


Nightmares

by gutzandspit



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, Flower Kid has nightmares, Gen, Happy Ending, Implied habismal, Kamal and Boris are parents, Mute Flower Kid (Smile For Me), Nonbinary Flower Kid (Smile For Me)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:20:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26685034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gutzandspit/pseuds/gutzandspit
Summary: Nightmares are terrifying, especially when you're young. Sometimes though, family can make them a little more bearable.
Relationships: Kamal Bora/Dr. Boris Habit (implied)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	Nightmares

It had probably been about two years since the events of the Habitat had happened.

Boris didn’t like looking back at those times, or thinking about them at all, really. But he couldn’t run away from his problems. He’d spent far too long doing that. If therapy had taught him anything, it was that sometimes, he had to confront his problems, instead of merely turning his back on them and allowing them to spiral out of control. 

Life had surely improved though, and every day, Boris was thankful for that. 

He was especially thankful for the people he had in his life. He’d made amends with most of the habiticians, working very hard over a period of a few months to earn forgiveness and redeem himself. 

To begin with, he didn’t think he deserved forgiveness. He was disgusting, irredeemable, what he’d done was utterly vile and unforgiveable. He didn’t deserve to be forgiven. He’d ruined people’s lives. 

That was what he had truly believed, anyway. It took a lot of therapy and persuasion from Kamal to fix those bad thoughts, and realise a few things about himself. That wasn’t to say that he was in utter denial that he’d done bad things, though. He was aware that what he’d done was pretty awful. 

But at least that was all behind him now. 

Now, life was different. Right now, he was laying in a big, comfy bed, slowly drifting off to sleep, eyes growing heavy. Kamal was asleep next to him, snuggled against his chest, his breathing calm and controlled, Boris’ large arms curled around him, holding him close. He couldn’t help but wonder what the smaller man was dreaming about. He hoped he was having nice dreams. 

Not to mention Flower Kid, who was asleep in the next room over. That was something that was different about his life, too. 

He hadn’t ever really expected to adopt a child into his life. But, after learning a thing or two about their home life, and some serious conversations between himself and Kamal, the pair had decided to adopt the little scamp. Boris was glad that they’d done that. He didn’t want yet another child to suffer in the same way that he himself had. 

Boris yawned, his large orange eyes slowly sliding shut as he settled down underneath the covers. It was time to stop thinking about all those different things. He needed to get some rest. He lay his head down, auburn hair spilling out over the floral printed pillows, stifling a yawn as he pulled Kamal closer, affectionately cuddling him as he fell into a comfortable slumber. 

A calm stillness spilled across the room, both Boris and Kamal curled up comfortably in their bed, pale moonlight snaking its way in through the thin gap between the floral patterned curtains, spreading its gentle glow across the silent bedroom. The only sounds that could be heard was the quiet, steady breathing of the two men, as well as the rhythmic, quiet ticking of a clock that sat on the nightstand. 

That was, until the quiet creaking of floorboards and the whine of the heavy wooden door opening penetrated the calming stillness of the room, accompanied by quiet sniffles. 

Kamal wriggled around a little bit in the bed, muttering something incomprehensible in his sleep. He’d always been a light sleeper, so it was no surprise really that he’d been woken up by sounds most people would deem rather insignificant. He fell still again for a few moments, subdued by his own sleepiness, before he groaned, carefully sitting up and rubbing his eyes, mindful not to disturb the sleeping Boris. 

He squinted through the darkness, hand fumbling across the nightstand until he felt the light switch underneath his fingers, flicking it on and casting a dim glow across the room. 

That was better. He could see now.

He rubbed his eyes again, shaking his head, before he focused his gaze on the doorway, frowning a bit as he finally clapped eyes on the sight before him. A tearful Flower Kid.

“Ah, geez…What’s goin’ on? C’mere.” Kamal quietly murmured, sitting up properly, extending his arms out in silent invitation for the Flower Kid to come closer, shooting them a sympathetic look.   
They didn’t have to be told twice. A strangled whimper of distress squirmed its way out of the child’s mouth as they quickly pattered across the old floorboards, tears streaming down their face as they scrambled their way up into the large bed, quickly being scooped up by Kamal.

“Hey, c’mon now, shh…What’s goin’ on?” Kamal asked quietly, slowly patting Flower Kid on the back. 

It wasn’t always easy communicating with Flower Kid, given that they were really only a young child. A young child with mutism, at that. 

Upon gaining custody of the little flower scamp, both Kamal and Boris had made firm, studious efforts to learn sign language, so that they could better communicate with the Flower Kid. It had been hard, at first, but overtime it had surely gotten easier, even if occasionally they had little mistakes or misunderstandings here and there. 

However, like most children, sometimes Flower Kid just got overwhelmed or distressed, to the point where communication became a rather difficult task for them. 

That was okay, though. Kamal figured it would be alright. He just needed to calm them down a little bit, in order for the child to actually tell him what was going on, and what had them so upset so late in the night. 

“Shh, shh, shh…Everything’s okay.” Kamal murmured soothingly, truly in parent mode at that moment. He just wanted Flower Kid to be okay. He cared for them, just like any good parent would. 

“Oh deere. What iz goeing on?” Came the sudden voice of Boris. He tended to be a heavier sleeper than Kamal was, but, understandably, he’d woken up at some point during all of this. 

He blinked a few times, clearing his throat as he fought to wake himself up a bit more, frowning anxiously as he regarded the situation at hand. A crying Flower Kid. A concerned Kamal. This didn’t look good.

Naturally, he was worried.

“Oh noe! Iz ev-ry-thing okaye?” Boris asked, frowning as he shuffled closer, pushing his red hair out of his face in the process, clearly rather anxious and concerned. Why was Flower Kid crying? What had happened? He didn’t like not knowing. 

“I’m not too sure.” Kamal admitted, glancing up at Boris and giving him a crooked, worried smile. “They haven’t told me yet.”

“Oh deere. I sea.” Boris murmured, anxiety etched all over his face as he moved a little closer towards the crying child, gently placing a large hand on their shoulder, patting it reassuringly. 

“Theree, theree…Coud yoo per-haps ‘tell’ us wat is wronge?” Boris asked gently, leaning down a little so that he wasn’t looming terribly over the obviously much smaller Flower Kid. 

A gentle quiet descended upon the room as the two men sat quietly, both equally focused on consoling the distressed Flower Scamp. They were clearly rather worried, and rightfully so. There was no denying that. 

Some quiet sniffling followed, accompanied by some gentle sobs, before the child gently pulled away from Kamal, blinking a few times. They rubbed a fist across their face in a childish, clumsy attempt to clear it of any tears.

“C’mon, deep breaths.” Kamal advised gently, giving Flower Kid an encouraging little smile, even if his eyes were very much still clouded with worry. 

Flower Kid nodded, sniffling a little, lashes spiked with tears. They were clearly still rather upset, but they at least seemed a little calmer now. That was good. 

“I had a bad dream.” They quickly signed, looking up expectantly at the two men, making sure they understood. 

Kamal blinked a few times, before he sighed sympathetically. He was relieved that it was just a nightmare, and nothing more serious. He reached forward, gently patting Flower Kid on the back in an attempt to further console them.

Still. He undeniably felt bad for Flower Kid. They were clearly incredibly distraught, and understandably so. Nightmares could be scary, especially when you were just a kid. 

“Oh…Oh, I sea.” Boris suddenly murmured after a few moments, frowning anxiously as he looked down at the much smaller child, leaning forward and tenderly embracing them in a gentle hug. 

“I’m sorree that happ-ened. Nighte-marees ar terr-i-ble.” He commented empathetically, ruffling Flower Kid’s messy hair as he carefully hugged them. 

Boris understood full well just how upsetting and terrifying nightmares were. He was no stranger to them himself. They’d gotten better and less frequent overtime, but he was all too familiar with the sensation of jolting awake from a horrible nightmare, sweating and panting out of sheer fear, struggling to hold back tears, heart pounding. 

“Nightmares are terrible.” Kamal echoed thoughtfully, quietly watching Boris hug and console Flower Kid, a small smile creeping its way onto his lips as he observed that tender moment. 

Finally, Boris pulled away from the hug, patting Flower Kid on the shoulder, smiling a little as he looked down at them. 

“Do yoo feel eny bett-er now?” He asked curiously, tilting his head slightly, holding back a yawn. He was undeniably tired, which wasn’t surprising. It was late. They all needed to get some sleep. 

A small nod followed Boris’ question. 

A sleepy, cheerful smile spread across Boris’ face in response to that. 

“Goode! I’me glad.” He commented sincerely, shuffling backwards a little bit, moving back into bed, yawning as he lay down again, pushing his hair out of his face.

“I’m glad you’re feelin’ better.” Kamal agreed, leaning down and giving Flower Kid a quick hug. “You ready to go back to bed, or what?”

Flower Kid remained still for a few moments, clasping their hands together uncertainly, frowning a little as they considered Kamal’s question, before they shook their head, quickly signing again. 

“Can I stay here?” They signed, looking inquisitively up at Kamal, before glancing over at Boris, silently asking him the same thing, attempting to gauge some sort of reaction from either of the two men. 

Kamal chuckled quietly in response to the timid question, shrugging and nodding a little bit.

“Ah, sure. We’ll keep you safe from any night terrors.” He semi joked, letting Flower Kid go ahead and crawl into the bed and over to Boris, so that they could fall asleep in between them both. Safe and sound. 

Boris smiled sleepily, giving a quiet nod in response to Flower Kid’s question, he opened his arms up in a welcoming, fatherly gesture, and the child crawled right into them. Boris smiled, closing his eyes and laying down, burying his face into the floral printed pillows and falling asleep again almost instantaneously, wild hair spread out over the bed. 

Kamal grinned quietly, observing that tender scene for a few moments, before yawning, laying down again and turning out the light, moving closer, rolling over onto his side as he settled down. He closed his eyes, wriggling further underneath the covers. He felt comfortable. He felt safe. 

He hoped Flower Kid felt safe too.


End file.
